After QPR turned down Zlatan, here's my top five stars who got away

The story about Queens Park Rangers
turning down Zlatan Ibrahimovic when he was 16 made me smile but he is
not the only high-profile player who has made a club curse their
judgment. Here are some of the best.

1 Yaya
Toure (to Arsenal): Arsene Wenger would do anything to have a player
like Toure in his midfield and he could have had him had it not
been for a passport problem in 2003. Rather than following his older
brother Kolo to Highbury, he went to Donetsk.

VIDEO Scroll down to watch videos of the stars that got away

Domineering: But City star Toure could have been playing for Arsene Wenger at Arsenal

Gunner? Toure in action for SK Beveren, where he may have moved to Arsenal from

2 Cristiano
Ronaldo (to Liverpool): How different would the Premier League have been
had Ronaldo ended up at Anfield rather than Old Trafford? Liverpool
were serious about buying him from Sporting Lisbon in 2003 but they felt
his fee and wages were too high for an 18-year-old.

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3 Zinedine
Zidane (to Blackburn): What we would have done to have Zidane in the
Premier League — it might have happened in 1995, too when he was at
Bordeaux. He was offered to Blackburn but they were content with having
Tim Sherwood.

Legend: Zinedine Zidane, celebrating for Real Madrid in 2006, is one of the greatest players of all time

In the making: Blackburn turned down the chance to snap up a young Zdane from French club Bordeaux

4 Ruud Gullit
(to Everton): Long before Gullit became a superstar with AC Milan and
one of Holland’s greatest players, he was offered to Everton as a
17-year-old. For some reason, Gordon Lee, Everton’s then manager,
rejected the opportunity.

World Class: But Ruud Gullit, scoring for Milan in 1988, could have been playing for Everton as a teenager

5 Diego Maradona
(to Sheffield United): I still find this incredible but it is genuine.
In 1978, he was spotted by Sheffield United manager Harry Haslam as a
talented 17-year-old but they could not afford the £200,000 fee. By
1986, he was the greatest player in the world.

Unbelievable: Sheffield United missed the chance to take on one of the greatest of all time, Diego Maradona